Starboard Side 9- Toonjie's Mariner Farewell Cruise Review

[toonjie]

Starboard Side 9- Mariner Farewell & NYE Cruise Review

 

 

Just a quick review, well quick for me, (if you want a really long review, click on the AOS review link in my signature and get your popcorn ready!), of our December 28th cruise on the Mariner. This was our 2nd cruise on the Mariner, the first being also a NYE cruise in 2006 and our 5th Voyager class cruise. It also was special because it made us diamond!

Join us for the Mariner’s last cruise before embarking on its 46 day journey around the Cape of Good Hope on its way to LA. When I think of our friends like Merion Mom and hundreds of others doing this and the whole 46 day journey, ours is but a small adventure, just a view from our cabins on deck nine, starboard side, just aft of the hump.

 

 

Pre-Cruise- Port Canaveral & Disney, December 26th- 27th

 

 

Christmas day found me in Littleton, New Hampshire at DW’s family’s house. DW had decided even before our new baby boy Josiah was born August 29th that she would take the safe route and not take Josiah on the cruise, a decision she now regretted as he is just such an easy baby with a great disposition and it was hovering around 8 degrees outside! It’s tough to say goodbye on Christmas, but I do and have an idyllic drive down to our house in southern Connecticut. The trees were all covered with snow from recent storms and the sky was bright blue with puffy white clouds, but even this gorgeous drive through Vermont and Massachusetts couldn’t keep my mind off warm weather!

I arrive home and finish some last minute packing and get to bed by 9:00pm, tough for this night owl, but the alarm rings at 2:00am so getting to bed early is a necessity. I’m out the door around 2:45am and arrive at my mom’s house in the NY City suburbs around 3:30am and she is waiting as anxious as I for our trip to begin. We arrive at Jetblue’s brand new terminal 5 around 4:10am and check in with the sky caps. This was the smoothest check in I’ve ever had. My mom isn’t too mobile so we get her a scooter on the ship and wheelchairs for the airport. The wheelchair person arrives even before we finish with the skycap and she takes mom through security and to the gate while I park the car. (One great benefit at Kennedy Airport is you can park in the short-term parking lots and pay the much cheaper long-term rate if you have a handicapped sticker.)

I park the car and take some video of the new terminal as I make my way through it. I made 1 trip to preview the terminal a few weeks prior to our trip, but this will be the first time past security. A few highlights are Dunkin Donuts and a very nice bar on both the arrival and departure levels before security. The terminal also has enough stores to rival a small town mall and it even has a Ron Jon surf shop, notable since we are heading to Port Canaveral and Cocoa Beach, home of Ron Jon. Another cool feature of the new terminal is the ability to order food from the multitude of vendors via screen at your table and have it delivered right to you.

Our flight was right on time, leaving at 6:00am and arriving at 8:45am. I spent most of the time watching the weather on the TV since my 3 older kids were flying down to meet us from Chicago where they just had a freezing rain storm and images of cars sliding down the highway made me worry that the first glitch of the trip was inevitable.

As soon as we arrive, I call my ex to see if she got to the airport okay and she is stuck in traffic almost there, but almost sure to be a little late. Mom and I work our way through the airport and to our waiting minivan at Avis with no problems. There is nothing like walking out of the airport and being greeted by the smell of humidity and flowers in the air! The temperature is already climbing through the 70’s on it’s way to the low 80’s and it’s hard to believe that I had to have the air conditioning on to cool down the car. All this while talking to my ex, who had now gotten to the airport, but was stuck in an incredible line since just about everyone was late for their flights. The kids miss their 9:30 flight, but get on an 11:30, which was delayed until 12:30pm, and so we adjust or plans a bit.

Mom and I head for our 10:15am breakfast reservation at Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge, one of our favorite places. I had ordered a scooter through Walker Mobility, who I normally use for our Disney trips with mom, but this is the first time using them and getting on a cruise rather than staying at a hotel. I was a little nervous about what I would do if the scooter broke, but things worked out perfectly, just as we pulled up to Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Walker Mobility van pulled in and the guys let me pick the scooter I wanted and so I test drove a couple and got one that looked and ran absolutely perfectly and we didn’t have one issue the entire trip.

We had a great breakfast and I called DW (Megan) and caught her up on our adventures so far, she was extremely jealous, but very good-natured about it. At the time we were looking at some antelope, an ostrich and some giraffe outside the window of the lodge, DW was watching the snow fall!

Since the kids were getting in late, mom and I decided to got to Port Canaveral and check into the Radisson at the Port. We had dinner show reservations back at Disney at 7:15pm, but with the kids now scheduled to get in around 3:30 we didn’t want to cut it too close and so we would pick them up and hang out at Disney until time for dinner rather than take them to the hotel for a swim as originally planned.

The Radisson is one of those hotels that is greater than the sum of any of its parts, we are in building 4 and the hotel is cleverly designed with the buildings all in a square around the outside creating a courtyard that serves to hide the not so scenic topography of the area from view. The pool area is just great with the pool water being just the perfect temperature and the hot tub water being the same, nice and hot. Gorgeous waterfalls and coy ponds and landscaping area all around. There is even a waterfall of hot water running into the hot tub which feels just great on your back.

 

 

We meet many cruisers and the people at the hotel are particularly nice, loads of pre-cruisers, both tourists and locals taking advantage of the Radisson’s parking package. (The Monarch of the Seas is in Port for 3 and 4 day cruises and with weekend departures, there are cruisers at the hotel almost everyday of the week) We encounter several native Floridians who come in a day early and park for free rather than paying to park at the port. It really gives them a free day at the hotel. The weather is now perfectly sunny and in the low 80’s and I am just soaking and basking in the sun, I can feel the vitamin D levels going up!

 

 

 

 

 

Building 4 is unfortunately the only building that doesn’t have wifi yet, but I’m able to plug in via Ethernet cable and check the kids flight status, but the Southwest page only lists the takeoff time and hasn’t updated an arrival time. We head off to the airport just incase the kids are early, and they are, I get a call from Southwest that the kids are there and waiting. My ex had sent the girls as unaccompanied minors, they are 10 and 7 and DS is 12. This was a pain because I had to go to the Southwest ticket counter, get a pass and then go through security to get them, by this time I was about a half hour late to get them and they threatened to charge extra, but never did!

We head off to Disney and our reservations for Hoop De Doo, a country western dinner show at Disney’s campground Fort Wilderness. We park and take the internal bus in Fort Wilderness-Disney busses are really cool, they have an automatic ramp that opens up for scooters to get right in the bus and then they strap them down for the ride. We pass loads of campgrounds with RV’s all decorated for Christmas and by this time it was dark. Once we got our tickets for the show, we set out to kill some time by touring through some of the RV parks and taking in all the elaborate decorations, some of which rival the best houses!

 

 

 

 

 

This was our 2nd time at Hoop De Doo and I think we enjoyed it even more than the first. We get out around 9:00pm and drive around admiring some of the Christmas decorations as we make our way out and back to port Canaveral. One major pain was the fact that it was a holiday and the tolls were understaffed and there were big back ups to pay the toll all along the Beachline Expressway over to Port Canaveral. Make sure you ask for a car with a Sunpass in it and it will save you a lot of time, our Budget rental car had it on the return and it saved loads of time!

The set up at the Radisson was just ideal for us. The kids and I were in a whirlpool suite and my mom was in a king room and the were right next to each other, but also had a 10’X10’ private entrance lobby off the hallway that you could either leave open or lock and that was just perfect for leaving the scooter out of the way, but not having to take it into the room, but still having it locked up. There was also an outlet for charging it. This was a really great set up, you could even store luggage out there and free up the space in the room.

[toonjie]

 

 

 

 

 

Coy pond with waterfall:

 

 

 

Nicely landscaped paths connect the buildings inside the courtyard:

[toonjie]

Saturday, December 27th

 

We did breakfast right next door at Zacharys and the food and service was very good. We spend the rest of the day simply relaxing by the pool with the kids meeting tons of kids to play with almost all day long, many that are getting on the Mariner with us the next day so it was like an Adventure Ocean meet and mingle. The plan was to have a big breakfast and then skip lunch and have an early dinner at Grills and watch the Disney Magic and Carnival Glory sail out. It’s really hard to get kids to eat big at breakfast and with playing all day in the pool they are hungry and convince grandma to get them food at the pool and we get some Pina Coladas. By the end of the afternoon, we are all visibly more tan!

 

The kids convince grandma to buy food from the pool bar:

 

Lizzie enjoys her drink:

 

 

Weather was again in the low 80’s and sunny all day. Around 3:00pm we head up to the room to get ready and we leave for Grills around 4:00pm. I let my mom out in front of Grills and then parked the car and came back to look for a waterfront table, but the place was packed with a large motorcycle group taking a break from their Saturday ride. I run over with DS12, (Tom), to Fishlips to see if they have a waterfront table and they do, so I leave him there and go back to get mom and the girls. By the time we get to the table, Tom tells us he has seen a dolphin in the water! Sure enough, we see him within a few minutes and then another group of two dolphins. We have a good dinner and first the Carnival Glory headed out follow by the Disney Magic a few minutes later, we wave and shout and relish the fact that it will be us sailing out tomorrow!

 

 

 

Disney Magic glides off into the sunset:

 

At this point DW texts me and says she is on her way to the family’s Christmas party in Vermont, it was raining and the fog from the rain hitting the snow made travel slow and she was stuck between Josiah in his car seat and her big oof of a brother-she was not having fun. I texted back-“We saw dolphins at dinner!” After dinner, we head out to the climax of our pre-cruise adventures, an Illuminations cruise at Disney’s Epcot Center. This is one of the hardest things to get, I called 90 days out, (when they start taking reservations) at 6:58am, (they open at 7:00am) and just got lucky. They have 5 boats a night available. It’s a pontoon boat that holds 10 people and we then split it with some people on the Disney boards. We parked at Disney’s Yacht Club Hotel and as soon as we go into the lobby, Mickey and Minnie are in front of the tree taking pictures with the kids and as soon as my girls get in line, they close the line for pictures!

 

Our timing is impeccable, Mickey and Minnie are just finishing up posing:

 

We make our way out to boardwalk in back of the hotel and to the marina. One of the 2 couples we have split the boat with is there and lets us know the boat will leave a little later at 8:30pm rather than 8:00pm as normal since Illuminations will be at 9:30 due to the candlelight processional at Epcot taking longer than expected. We circle the whole Boardwalk area and the kids get involved with a street magician’s show and have a blast. It’s just great to be walking outside at night and have it still be warm. You can tell the people that are from down south because they have jackets on even though the temperature is in the mid-sixties- it feels really warm to us!

We meet the other group and they have decided to send dad and their 8 year old daughter Holly with us, (we only had 2 spots and they were a family of 4). Holly and my DD10 Lizzie really hit it off and it is amazing to see how fast kids can make friends and become close. We begin our cruise and the captain gives us tons of Disney info and then quizzes the kids on it, giving out prizes when they get it right. The kids are all having a blast and they provide popcorn and chips and all kinds of soda and drinks. In addition to the regular Illuminations fireworks show, which our captain says cost $35,000 a night to produce, they had a special holiday tag on the end called Peace on Earth, a thrilling show choreographed to a classical piece and tons of red and green fireworks for a finale that left just about everyone in tears. We toured some more on our way back and then the kids took pictures together as we had to say goodbye to Holly and her dad.

It was a fitting climax to a great pre-cruise. We head back to the Radisson and I throw the kids in bed and enjoy the hot tub in the room before drifting off dreaming of the Mariner.

[toonjie]

Lizzie and Abby pose with their new friend Holly:

 

Cool collection of painted fish inside fishlips:

 

Disney Magic:

 

Carnival Glory:

 

Radisson pool area:

 

 

[toonjie]

You'll find the Radisson to have loads of friendly cruisers, my kids had a blast all day:

 

 

DS 12, Tom found kids to play football with most of the day:

 

Girls have a blast:

 

 

Kiddie pool with fountain for the little ones:

 

[tuliplvr]

enjoying the review so far.. great pics!

[toonjie]

Sunday, December 28th Embarkation

 

 

We sleep in a bit and get up around 8:30am. I get the kids to start packing up and the plan is to skip breakfast, get on the ship as soon as possible and eat at the Windjammer. Around 9:30am. I take all the suitcases to the port and drop them off with the porters. Port Canaveral is just the best port to get in and out of quickly, all the security guards were friendly and we were in and out and back to the Radisson in about 15 minutes. I then took the kids and all the carry on luggage and threw my mom’s scooter in the trunk of the minivan. (This saved having to take it apart) I then made a trip to the port and dropped them all off by the entrance. It was great having the scooter with us already because mom could just wait anywhere and have a nice seat and the kids are fine standing. I return the rental car, gassing up on the way and catch a shuttle back with only around a 5 minute wait. The Avis shuttle driver was extremely nice and talkative and was saying that they’d be slow with the Mariner leaving and the Freedom not arriving for a few months. We arrive back at the port and drop off people going on the Sensation, Carnival’s newest and largest ship, which still looks small compared to the Mariner! It is also heading to LA at the end of the month.) I slip out of the bus and take some pics of the Wonder and Mariner together. I joke with a fork lift operator that he should lift me up so I can get a pic without the chain-link fence in the way and he quips, (I’ll translate longshoreman into G rated since this is a family audience) that he would be fired and have a sore tushy if he did! I ended up slipping the lens in between the links while still laughing.

 

 

 

 

We then dropped the Disney Wonder folks off and before entering the parking lot the driver tells me I can just get out and walk along a path right to the terminal since I am meeting family that are right at the entrance. I get on the walkie talkie and tell my son to start going through security and by the time I walk in they are almost through. We take the elevator up, check in with no wait and get our pictures taken, and embarkation was so smooth it was our best photo ever, usually we look all sweaty and disheveled, but Port Canaveral was a breeze!

We hope to drop our stuff off at the cabin, but the floors are carefully guarded with and attendant outside on each floor right by the elevators so we head to the Windjammer. We just relaxed because we weren’t making any spa arrangements or eating at a specialty restaurant and we had been on the Mariner before and so there was no rush to do anything-nice!

After lunch, the cabins are ready, we are in 9352, a D1 balcony and 9353, right across the hall, an inside with 2 pullmans for grandma and the girls. Our balcony has a great view of the amazing process of loading the ship. We watch for a while and then hit the pool area. Our suitcases arrived before muster and I unpacked Tom and I and the girls in grandmas room and filled out the form to have all my formal and diner clothes pressed. We met our cabin steward, who was great, he even gave us an extra platinum coupon booklet and brought bathrobes for the kids since they were platinum as well. The girls got the kids coupon books, but Tom being 12 got an adult platinum one. We also ran into our steward, Stephen, from 2 years ago and he remembered us and said hi. He was really excited because he is from Barbados and the Mariner was heading there on its first leg towards South America.

 

Mariner Promenade with Christmas tree:

 

Muster was perhaps the easiest ever since our station was in the dinning room. We basically just went down and sat in the chairs until it was over. I was really looking forward to finally hearing Captain Johnny, on our last Mariner cruise we had Captain Per, who was our favorite captain yet and I had heard so much about Captain Johnny. Suffice to say, it is all true, he is just great and I had several conversations with him and got an autographed copy of his book as well. We grew to look forward to his “good morning, good morning, good morning,” and someone at the Captain’s Corner suggested he put it on Itunes! I think it would make a great wakeup ringtone.

I call DW from the balcony since we would soon be sailing and contact would be expensive. I’m lucky and Josiah says “Hi,” he has been doing it since 7 weeks old, but only every so often. It’s hard to leave a 4 month old for so long, but his little “Hi” did a lot to soften the blow! Soon we see the Sensation leaving and then we throw ropes and head out as well. We make sure to wave at all the folks at Fishlips. Dinner was good and our waiters were very good. Our assistant waiter was our waiter up in the Windjammer at lunch, he’s from the Philippines and my mom had spoken to him in Tagalog, the native language, (she knows one phrase), and he got a kick out of it. He told all the waiters about it and it was great to see his excitement that we were actually at his table. They were great with the kids all week, cutting their meat and teaching them magic tricks with napkin animals. Food was pretty good all week, but I think I’d give the edge to the AOS in the food department.

 

Abby at dinner:

 

Lizzie at dinner:

 

Tom enjoys the waiter's magic trick:

 

 

After dinner, I sign the kids up for Adventure Ocean, this is their 3rd cruise and they all love the program. It was particularly convenient since they are now older and I could give the 2 older kids sign in and out privileges and let the older ones sign in and out Abby, who is 7. They were all very responsible all week and came right back to the cabin whenever they signed out. I gave Tom, 12 full roaming rights as long as he told me where he was, which was either AO, the game room or the sportsbar-he’s really into football. Anytime I needed to find the kids when they were up by the pool, I would just hangout at the ice cream machine and would find them all within 10 minutes!

Opening show was good with a comedic juggler, Chuck Gunter, who was great and a comedian, Dwight Slade, who was okay. There was one show at 7:45pm for both seatings. After the show, I picked up the girls from AO and took them up to the helipad and it was really windy and they were scared at first, but after a bit they loved it, it’s one of my favorite hangouts. By this time we are all alone in a pitch black sea, let the cruising begin!

[MomtoCCC]

Great review - can't wait to hear more :)

[toonjie]

Monday, December 29th Day at Sea

 

 

The day began the way all days should, breakfast on the balcony! Grandma and the girls came over and I finally learned the secret of getting kids to eat a lot a breakfast, it’s those sample plates of rolls, croissants and Danishes! The kids devour the 3 plates I ordered and from then on I ordered 5! We then hit the pool until 11:00 when bingo began. The pool area was packed and ful of the usual chair hogs, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, you could always find a chair somewhere. After bingo we hit Johnny Rockets and used our coupons for free entry. This strategy has worked for our last 3 cruises, Johnny Rockets isn’t crowded on the first day because most people aren’t sick of the Windjammer yet and most don’t have free coupons and so we are able to walk right up and get a booth.

The afternoon was spent by the pool or relaxing on the balcony, exploring the ship a bit and the kids went to Adventure Ocean. Abby’s group had a circus performance in the Royal Promenade and so I went to that and took loads of pictures and video. Her group did the same type of thing numerous times throughout the cruise and we even saw her on RCCL TV.

 

Dinner was the first formal night and the captain’s gala. Food was good and after dinner the kids headed to AO and I went to the Captain’s reception and got my picture taken with Captain Johnny and also went to the promenade for his speech and introduction of all the officers.

 

 

 

After that, the show was Spectrum, a Motown group, and they were excellent as was cruise director Abe Hughes. After the show, I got the kids from AO and put them to bed and then did some exploring. After 4 Voyager Class cruises, I finally found the movie theater on deck 2. It just has always seemed that there was never a movie playing that we wanted to see at a free time on ay other cruise and we have never just been wandering on deck 2. It is hard to find, tucked away behind a reception desk for the meeting rooms on deck 2. I vow to find a movie playing that I want to see since it is a very nice theater which holds 58 people with very plush seating.

 

I again visit the helipad and then call it a night, I was going to stay up for the 12:15am adult comedy show, but was a little too tired, tomorrow would be a big day teaching the kids snorkeling on Labadee.

 

First towel animal appears:

[aucruiser]

Enjoying your review and pictures Toonjie.

[toonjie]

Tuesday, December 30th Labadee

 

 

I order breakfast in the room for 7:30am since the first tender is at 8:30am and we want to beat the rush. I’m up at 7:00am and go out on the balcony and we are approaching Haiti. There are a few showers and it rains for a minute or two and that would be the only rain we encountered the entire cruise. It was in the 70’s and very humid and you could tell it would be near 90, as was forecast, by afternoon.

Some of the barges for the construction of the new pier for Oasis of the Seas:

 

 

What a great feeling, heat and humidity, two things I have missed so much! My only question about debarking with the tenders is if there is any place down on deck one where they will let my mom leave the scooter? One security guard tells my mom she can actually take the scooter on the tender then just leave it by the dock. We had used the porters last time in Labadee so we knew they had wonderful wheelchairs with fat wheels for the sand. I discover that somehow I have all the Seapass cards, except for Tom’s who’s Seapass card somehow got switched with his extra room key. I run with him back to the room, hoping to get back in time to catch the same tender, but when we get back, there is another one and my mom and the girls had already headed toward the island.

 

Mariner, shot from the tender as Tom and I catch up:

 

 

When Tom and I get there, they are waiting and the porter starts out to take us to the beach overlooking the zipline and it takes us to about ¾ of the way there to explain to him that the water is too rough on that side for my mom and to just take us to the little beach right near the tender dock. We finally convince him and we get settled with chairs, etc. I go take some pictures and the kids are off searching for coconuts.

 

Mariner looking so good in the distance:

 

We spent the day swimming and I got the kids snorkel gear out and we snorkeled all the way around the rocks to the next beach over. There’s really not much to see, a few fossils in the rocks, but this is just a good time to work on the kids snorkeling technique.

 

Some of the ruins:

 

After snorkeling, it is time for lunch and the buffets are almost ready so we hit the Haitian market. I hadn’t visited the market the last time and was looking forward to seeing how aggressive the sellers actually were since I have both been on and led trips all over the Middle East and have experienced loads of aggressive vendors. My opinion is that they weren’t bad at all and that most of the complaints are from people who haven’t experienced markets where bargaining is the norm. There were managers there that would intervene if the sellers were being too aggressive either with customers or fighting over customers with each other. It was pretty tame compared to places I’ve been. I taught the kids how to bargain and they got a kick out of all the attention they were getting.

After lunch, we explore the island and head over to Dragon’s Breath Rock. I take tons of pictures of the new construction going on and the kids have a blast looking for shells and crabs, etc. We run into fellow CCer Carol, Merion Mom, having a blast as always.

 

 

The waves are light, but still enough to hear the hiss of the dragon’s breath as we reach the tip. We then head back for a swim and some time in the sun. Just before it’s time to leave, we get Abby’s hair braided into ponytails and then take advantage of the fact that the porters with wheelchairs take you right to the front of the line and onto the tenders, so no waiting!

The kids then went to AO and I hit the pool and hot tub and then we got ready for dinner. After dinner, we hit the Ice show-“Ice Under the Big Top.” This show was phenomenal, much better than the one on the Adventure of the Seas. The cast was really good, no falls and the featured skater, Dmitri was excellent! After the show, I get everyone into bed as soon as possible since we have a big day in Jamaica.

 

A great day was had by all!

[toonjie]

Gorgeous weather the entire day!

 

The beach we finally convince the porter to take us to:

 

 

 

Lovely spot for a picnic!

 

[toonjie]

 

 

 

 

 

Had to climb out on the rocks to get this one:

[toonjie]

Lizzie having a blast:

 

Cool rocks all over make for great exploring:

 

 

Kids have a blast watching the zip line:

 

 

[toonjie]

 

Kids find a crab:

 

 

Mariner just peeking over the rocks from Dragon's Breath Point:

 

 

[toonjie]

Okay here's the info everyone is interested in, what is the construction like at Labadee, will it ruin my time there? The answer is no! It is visible, but Labadee is so big you can easily find a spot where no construction is visible.

 

Expect to see the barges as you arrive: (You can see the tender taking the food for lunch in the foreground)

 

 

This is the site of the new pier:

 

New bathrooms are one welcome addition:

 

This is what it will look like:

 

A new welcome center will greet passengers as they arrive via the new pier:

 

Dragon's Breath bar is getting a big expansion:

[toonjie]

There are also new facilities going in on the other side of the island, under the zipline on the beach with bathrooms, etc.

 

More views of the new pier under construction:

 

 

 

[ckrobyn]

Toonjie - Loving your review :)

 

I got my copy of the C&A magazine yesterday and went searching immediately for your picture! It's excellent, way to go!!!!!

[toonjie]

Toonjie - Loving your review :)

 

I got my copy of the C&A magazine yesterday and went searching immediately for your picture! It's excellent, way to go!!!!!

 

Thanks! I'm still smiling, it's great having a photo actually published!

[toonjie]

Wednesday, December 31st, New Year’s Eve, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

 

We start the day with breakfast on the balcony as we pull into port. We’re the only ship in today and so crowds won’t be as bad as normal. We’ve been to Jamaica before, both on cruises and for land-based vacations and so we head out to do some of our favorites. I’m excited because we have found, (thanks to the Jamaica boards), a tour guide that has a van with a handicapped ramp in the back, so we can simply drive grandma’s scooter right in and take off. Walter Aarons has a unique van designed for handicapped transport and he told us he does a lot of the handicapped transport for other tour companies that can’t accommodate scooters and wheelchairs.

 

Walter was waiting for us when when exited the pier and drove the van right over. His van is very new and absolutely spit and polish clean. He has a dvd player with screen and puts some Bob Marley on as we head out to Dunn’s River Falls. Our plan is to hit the falls before the crowds arrive. We have climbed the falls around 5 times already, but it is just such a wonderful place, we like to do it every time we go. Walter suggests that we let grandma go in and go half way down to watch and we were so glad we did. She was able to navigate to a beautiful spot and wait for us. The weather was absolutely perfect and the water temperature couldn’t have been more perfect if you could adjust it like a faucet. I remember thinking as we climbed that Adam and Eve must have had one of these in the Garden of Eden!

My goal this time was to have all the kids climb up without any help at all. Last time we were there the girls were 6 & 8 and they both needed some help, this time they made it on there own. I noticed as we climbed, (and confirmed it with a security guard at the top,) that they have started to brush off the algae to make it less slippery. It was much, much easier to climb. The trick used to be to place your feet on the rocks where the water was running strongest because that is where the algae is naturally rubbed off.

We make it all the way up to the spot where grandma is waiting and noticed that the RCCL tour groups were just arriving as we were almost finishing up! We then headed to Calypso tubing, which we had also done last time. By this time we all love Walter Aarons, he is just the best tour guide and his commentary on the area is just fantastic. As we exit the falls, tour busses are arriving from Montego Bay he tells us. We were able to climb the falls in about 40 minutes and that included a lot of time for swimming and just enjoying the beauty of the place.

We also had a much better time Calypso tubing than on our last trip. First Walter brought my mom to a mid-way point where she could watch us glide down the river and second, they have expanded the half-way point where they take your picture and now they have rope swings and a huge platform to jump off of and into the river. I go over our picture order with them while the kids swim and they bring it to us at the bottom. I also picked up some Blue Mountain Coffee from the vendors at the bottom.

Our next stop was the botanical gardens and Walter dropped us off with a guide who took us all around and even pick some flowers for my mom. It’s a gorgeous setting with waterfalls and flowers everywhere.

 

 

We then toured around Ocho Rios and decided to change our lunch plans from the Ruins restaurant, which has great atmosphere, but not the greatest food, to the Seafood Grill, which had great food, but not that much atmosphere. We have a wonderful lunch and invited Walter to join us we enjoyed his company so much.

 

After lunch, we head to the Taj Mahal shopping center right near the pier to get some Jamaican rum, more Blue Mountain Coffee and some souvenirs. We also let the kids pick out some Christmas present, Tom is out to get a turtle from every island.

 

Walter Aarons gave us a spectacular day and I can’t recommend him highly enough, he is one of the best tour guides we have ever had and his van is just ideal for people with scooters or wheelchairs. A big thumbs up!

 

We board the ship around 4:00pm and hit the pool. Dinner is formal and there is a special menu for New Year’s Eve. There are blowers and noisemakers and hats at the table. The food was very good and afterwards the kids went to AO until 10:0pm when I picked them up to celebrate the New Year together. There are parties all over the ship and we head to the pool area. I hope to call DW, but there is no cell signal. We spent around a half an hour in the hot tub and pool while the band played. Behind the band, they had a screen with the time on it and in the last few minutes, it switched to a live feed from the Royal Promenade and Captain Johnny counting down. I love the pool deck on NYE because of the thrilling horn blast and it is just as thrilling as 2 years ago! We have picked up a Carnival ship that is also headed to Grand Cayman and they blast their horn as well. I give up on getting a cell signal and shuffle the kids off to bed since we have a big day in Grand Cayman and the kids will need all their energy for snorkeling with the stingrays.

[toonjie]

Gorgeous foliage:

 

Huge spider

 

I have to give photo credit to Abby, who chased down this peacock:

 

 

 

[toonjie]

 

 

 

 

 

Our assistant waiter:

[lsmommy]

Your reviews are addicitive. I just finished the AOS reveiw and this one, and they are both excellent.

 

Your pictures are great. We are staying at the Radisson in March before we go on the Disney Magic, now my daughters are all excited about the pool at the Radisson, and of course going on a cruise.

 

I have booked the RCCL Freedom of the Seas for March 2010, but the AOS looks beautiful and sailing out of San Juan gives you new islands to explore so I may have to look into that option.

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your adventures and pictures.

[toonjie]

Your reviews are addicitive. I just finished the AOS reveiw and this one, and they are both excellent.

 

Your pictures are great. We are staying at the Radisson in March before we go on the Disney Magic, now my daughters are all excited about the pool at the Radisson, and of course going on a cruise.

 

I have booked the RCCL Freedom of the Seas for March 2010, but the AOS looks beautiful and sailing out of San Juan gives you new islands to explore so I may have to look into that option.

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your adventures and pictures.

 

Wow, that's a lot of reading! Thanks for taking the time to read both reports. They are both awesome ships and San Juan is one of my favorites ports to begin a cruise from, the rainforest is magnificent and the old city is one of the neatest places to walk around in in this hemisphere.

 

I should have our next days up in a little bit- Rays, Reef and Rum in Grand Cayman and Nachi Cocum in Cozumel.

[ken_nyc]

Hi Toonjie, Thanks for your very informative review, as usual your posts are excellent and amusing reading. I know I thanked you before but thanks again for helping me with our AOS cruise plans. The Delta flight that I booked in October for $308 is now over $450. I am now trying to research excursions, thinking about Cosol. Got to go now.